Property purchase?

The city may be able to acquire a home that has been a challenge in the process of repairing sewer lines on the west side of Portland.
Mayor Randy Geesaman told Portland City Council at its meeting Monday that the city has made an offer to purchase a foreclosed home at 509 W. High St. That information came as part of a larger discussion about problem areas and properties in the city.
Geesaman has spoken to a representative of Bank of America, which owns the High Street property, and offered the company $10,000. The house sits on top of a collapsed 24-inch sewer line essential to the alleviating flooding on the west side of Portland.
The city is waiting for a response on that offer.
Council member Kent McClung asked how long it would take to acquire the title and tear down the house, if the offer is accepted. City attorney Bill Hinkle noted acquiring the title should not take long, but the city would have to hire a contractor to raze the property, the mayor added.
Council member Mark Hedges also brought up several areas of concern including empty spaces where trees have been removed downtown.
“Part of my concern is that in my notes I have communications going all the way back to May 18 of 2015,” said Hedges. “And we always say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to meet three to six weeks out’ and then after that period passes I ask again and we set another potential meeting three to six weeks out. And we’re exactly where we were of last year this time.”
Geesaman acknowledged when the flooding occurred last summer, handling trees was placed on the back burner. He said he doesn’t want to extract tree stumps potentially pulling an electrical line without first having a contractor examine the areas.
The mayor noted he has been speaking with Jay County Chamber of Commerce executive director Dean Sanders and Carrie Tauscher of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources about the issue. He added Tauscher is prepared to move forward but doesn’t want to give any definite tree planting and uprooting advice without assistance from Scott Truex of Ball State University’s college of architecture.
Once they meet, Geesaman hopes to have a meeting with business owners and city council.
Hedges also mentioned the former book bindery property at 518 S. Wayne St. The city paid to demolish the buildings at a cost of about $67,000, but excess debris still remains at the location.
Geesaman said he will meet Thursday with the engineer and contractor to determine what should be done about the excess debris.
Council member Don Gillespie also asked about glass in front of the former Tom & Rod’s Steakhouse, 214 W. Main St. as well as use of street sweepers.
Street and Parks superintendent Ryan Myers said such incidents such as the broken glass will be turned over to the city’s code enforcement office and that street sweepers have been running for about two weeks and will be in use more now that the weather has improved.
In other business, council members Bill Gibson, Michele Brewster, Janet Powers, Aker, Hedges, McClung and Gillespie:
•Heard Hedges ask about code enforcement and what the procedure the city has for condemned homes or drug houses. Geesaman noted that police chief Nathan Springer discussed ideas to improve ordinances.
•Learned the renovations to city hall to fix damage caused by summer floods are almost complete. Left to be completed is the trim at the bottom of the hallways and renovation the bathrooms, which should be finished in the next two weeks. Exterior work is scheduled to begin in late May.
•Heard Powers ask if council’s meeting schedule could be placed on the city’s website.
•Approved closing Main, Commerce and Ship streets from noon to 9 p.m. for the Arch Bridge Kroozers show May 21.
•Heard from Donald Gillespie, who presented details for the 2016 Indiana “Run for the Fallen” to occur May 13 through 15. The run will start at 7:30 a.m. Friday at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. Runners will honor more than 200 Indiana service men and women at various stops. More information can be found at http://www.inrunforthefallen.org.